A Feast For Crows [A Song Of Ice And Fire]

I had promised myself to stay clear of sprawling high fantasy epics after Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series proved to be such a monumental disappointment (does this thing still drag on, btw?)

George R. R. Martin convinced me otherwise, though. A Song Of Ice And Fire saga is epic, sprawling and high fantasy (although very low key on the magic use), nevertheless the thing is actually very, very good. Martin doesn't shy from killing main characters (sometimes he seems to revel in it, actually), his characters are actual characters and not the black-and-white cyphers so common in heroic fantasy and his plots are anything but straightforward.

The latest installment in the series - A Feast Of Crows - has disappointed some fans because the stories of main characters like Jon Snow or Daenerys Thargaryen aren't continued but set aside for developments on the Lannister-related characters. Especially twins Cersei and Jaime Lannister get their place in the spotlight in A Feast For Crows. And since the notion of "main characters" isn't really appropriate for Martin's epic, seeing how many presumed main characters already bit the dust during the first three books, I'm rather content with the developments in A Feast For Crows.

My only gripe with the book is, that it leaves us with a few tantalizing cliffhangers, especially regarding Cersei's fate. I really do hope Martin doesn't take another five years for the next installment, "A Dance With Dragons".